Why Every Catholic Couple Should Consider a Prenup

A Discussion with Beverly Willet

I recently sat down with Beverly Willet, a retired civil lawyer and co-founder of “The Coalition for Divorce Reform”, to discuss the harsh reality of no-fault divorce—and what we can do about it.

Covenant in Anticipation of Marriage and Arbitration Agreement

Beverly shared her devastating experience of being divorced against her will. She believed marriage was for life, but the State had other ideas. Her husband couldn’t prove fault in New York, so he simply moved to New Jersey, where no-fault divorce made it impossible for her to stop the process. She said, “The reality is that you can be divorced against your will and that you absolutely have no say about the most sacred thing that you’ve ever done and this most sacred, holy contract that you have entered into with your whole heart, believing that it’s permanent.”

I explained how State-defined marriage is NOT the same as real, lifelong marriage. Couples enter marriage thinking it’s forever, but the State legal system assumes it’s temporary. I pointed out, “People innocently assume when they’re entering marriage, they’re doing what you said—and they don’t even know that the State is doing something different.”

That’s why Mary’s Advocates offers the Catholic Prenup—a tool for couples to put in writing what they already believe: that marriage is permanent and should not be subject to the state’s destructive divorce laws. Beverly put it plainly: “Divorce courts basically—they are there to unravel families. They are there to help them completely disassemble and break apart. That is their only function at all.”

She also highlighted how people sign contracts for almost everything—except marriage, the most important decision of their lives. “How many people getting married, with all the hoopla and the romance and the money being spent, actually go to a lawyer and say, ‘Okay, just tell me what my rights and responsibilities are, and what all the laws are that come into play when I get married?’ Does anybody know any of that? No.”

The Catholic Prenup forces real conversations before marriage, ensuring couples are committing to what marriage is truly meant to be. As Beverly noted, “If they haven’t really thought about this, maybe they sit down and say, ‘No, I can’t do this. I can’t enter into this marriage because this is not what I agree to.’ And that’s a good thing.”

Marriage is not a temporary contract—it’s a lifelong bond, and it should be treated as such.